Free-standing displays including a plurality of interconnected panels are widely used in the advertising field. The displays are used on a wide scale at conventions and trade shows in order to provide an attractive background and display area for the goods and/or services that are being offered. The panels are used to mount photographs and other advertising material in addition to being brightly colored to provide the aesthetically pleasing background desired. In addition to use at conventions and shows, these displays are becoming more and more popular for public lobbies, and entry halls, as well as providing a focal point in permanent display rooms of companies or the like.
In the past, these panels have usually been interconnected by hinges that extend along the vertical edges so that the display assemblies can be folded when not in use. In these prior art devices, the panels are thus usually fixed with relation to each other so that variety of arrangement of the panels to get different color combinations or the like is not possible. Because the panels are freely hinged, in many instances the display is set up so as not to be symmetrical, or during the time that the display is in use one or more of the panels are inadvertently moved by shifting of the hinged connection. This causes the display to become unattractive and thus indirectly adversely affects the sales effort of the user. Also, the use of hinges to connect the panels is a relatively expensive way of providing the interconnection since the hinges are subjected to substantial forces and thus are made of metal.
There have been other attempts to provide free-standing displays using different devices for interconnecting the panels. However, in each instance, the connectors are still relatively high in cost, or in some cases difficult to assemble, and in still other cases do not provide the security needed for assuring the integrity of the display during use.
Thus, it is one object of the present invention to provide a new concept in connecting modular free-standing panels for advertising displays wherein interconnection by hinges or the like is eliminated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide interconnection of angled display panels by simple, low-cost connector clamp assemblies that are used in combination to make a variety of display combinations.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a connector clamp assembly that is made of simple molded plastic parts and including an adjustable fastener arrangement to allow secure clamping of the plain panel edges.